Method and apparatus for external control planes to cryptographically trust software artifacts launched at public cloud providers

Abstract

A system, method, and computer-readable medium for performing a data center monitoring and management operation. The data center monitoring and management operation includes: submitting a request for a workload instance to a cloud service provider; establishing a secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console; exchanging information between the cloud service provider and the data center monitoring and management console via the secure communication channel, the information including a verifiable workload instance identity; and, using the verifiable workload instance identity to authenticate a workload instance provided by the cloud service provider.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implementable method for performing a data center monitoring and management operation, comprising:
 submitting a request for a workload instance to a cloud service provider; 
 establishing a secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console; 
 exchanging information between the cloud service provider and the data center monitoring and management console via the secure communication channel, the information including a verifiable workload instance identity, the verifiable workload instance identity being unique, linked by the cloud service provider to the workload instance and cryptographically verifiable; and, 
 using the verifiable workload instance identity to authenticate a workload instance provided by the cloud service provider, the data center monitoring and management console authenticating the workload instance. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the secure connection is established using a public key provided by the cloud service provider. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the data center monitoring and management console comprises a workload authentication system; and, 
 the workload authentication system verifies a signature of the cloud service provider using the public key provided by the cloud service provider and stores with verifiable workload instance identity. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the cloud service provider generates a certificate signing request (CSR) when establishing the secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the workload authentication system processes the CSR to generate a signed certificate containing an authenticated workload identity. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 initiating an instance of a requested workload; and, 
 retrieving the verifiable instance identity when the instance of the requested workload is initiated. 
 
     
     
       7. A system comprising:
 a processor; 
 a data bus coupled to the processor; and, 
 a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality of computer operations and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:
 submitting a request for a workload instance to a cloud service provider; 
 establishing a secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console; 
 exchanging information between the cloud service provider and the data center monitoring and management console via the secure communication channel, the information including a verifiable workload instance identity, the verifiable workload instance identity being unique, linked by the cloud service provider to the workload instance and cryptographically verifiable; and, 
 using the verifiable workload instance identity to authenticate a workload instance provided by the cloud service provider, the data center monitoring and management console authenticating the workload instance. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the secure connection is established using a public key provided by the cloud service provider. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the data center monitoring and management console comprises a workload authentication system; and, 
 the workload authentication system verifies a signature of the cloud service provider using the public key provided by the cloud service provider and stores with verifiable workload instance identity. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the cloud service provider generates a certificate signing request (CSR) when establishing the secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the workload authentication system processes the CSR to generate a signed certificate containing an authenticated workload identity. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor are further configured for:
 initiating an instance of a requested workload; and, 
 retrieving the verifiable instance identity when the instance of the requested workload is initiated. 
 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising computer executable instructions configured for:
 submitting a request for a workload instance to a cloud service provider; 
 establishing a secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console; 
 exchanging information between the cloud service provider and the data center monitoring and management console via the secure communication channel, the information including a verifiable workload instance identity, the verifiable workload instance identity being unique, linked by the cloud service provider to the workload instance and cryptographically verifiable; and, 
 using the verifiable workload instance identity to authenticate a workload instance provided by the cloud service provider, the data center monitoring and management console authenticating the workload instance. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the secure connection is established using a public key provided by the cloud service provider. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the data center monitoring and management console comprises a workload authentication system; and, 
 the workload authentication system verifies a signature of the cloud service provider using the public key provided by the cloud service provider and stores with verifiable workload instance identity. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the cloud service provider generates a certificate signing request (CSR) when establishing the secure communication channel between the cloud service provider and a data center monitoring and management console. 
 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the workload authentication system processes the CSR to generate a signed certificate containing an authenticated workload identity. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the computer executable instructions are further configured for:
 initiating an instance of a requested workload; and, 
 retrieving the verifiable instance identity when the instance of the requested workload is initiated. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the computer executable instructions are deployable to a client system from a server system at a remote location. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the computer executable instructions are provided by a service provider to a user on an on-demand basis.